1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly, to a system to enable a single user console to manage, control, simultaneously view, and share files and data among a plurality of host computers.
2. Description of Related Art
There exist devices for interconnecting a single console or computer to multiple computers. For example, a keyboard/video/mouse (KVM) switch is a device that is generally connected to multiple computers in order to enable a single keyboard, video monitor and mouse to control each of the connected computers. In this way, a user may have access to multiple computers without having to invest in corresponding keyboards, monitors, and mice for each of the computers. When the user accesses a computer connected to the KVM switch, video signals are routed from the computer, processed, and displayed on the single video monitor. Generally, the user must utilize pre-defined key sequences, such as <scroll-lock> <scroll-lock>, to release control over the first computer, return control to the KVM switch, and navigate through an on-screen menu or other display in order to access another computer connected to the KVM switch. In some cases, rather than utilizing key sequences and on-screen menus or displays in order to be able to access another computer, the user must physically actuate a button or other mechanism on the KVM switch. But requiring a user to physically access the KVM switch is adverse to the promotion of easy switching between computers, particularly if the KVM switch is placed in an inconvenient, remote, or inaccessible location, for example.
Regardless of how access to a particular computer is granted, for typical KVM switches, only the video output of the accessed computer is processed and displayed on the single video display unit. That is, a user is not able to view the video output from the other “non-accessed” computers connected to the KVM switch because video output from the “accessed” computer covers the entire video display unit. Allowing a user to view and access one computer while also allowing the user to view the other “non-accessed” computers would not only provide greater information to the user, but would also provide the foundation for enabling quick and seamless navigation and sharing of files and data between all the computers.
There are products available that allow a user to view the video output from multiple sources, such as the QuadView® XL by RGB Spectrum®, but these products do not allow the user to actually access the connected sources. The QuadView® XL, for example, is generally used for simply displaying multiple images on a monitor or projector without allowing the user to control the sources themselves.
There also exist devices for interconnecting multiple computers such that files may be transferred between storage devices and data may be shared between the processors of multiple computers. However, such devices generally require that a user be familiar with computer networking and file sharing and do not provide a familiar drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste interface that would allow a user to perform such operations in an intuitive fashion with little or no training.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a system that includes a management device with an intuitive user interface to enable the simultaneous output of video and audio from multiple computers, the seamless and intuitive switching of user control from one computer to another, and familiar drag-and-drop and copy-and-paste interfaces for transferring files and other data between multiple computers connected to the management device.